


A Lonely Moon Called Forth

by KazOfScotland



Series: Daydream Believer [3]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Gen, Injured Neville, Luna Lovegood/Neville Longbottom's Daughter, Next Gen Takeover, Nonbinary Teddy Lupin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-01
Updated: 2020-12-01
Packaged: 2021-03-09 04:41:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,266
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27148211
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KazOfScotland/pseuds/KazOfScotland
Summary: When Dory Longbottom's worst nightmare comes true, her best friend makes sure that everything is okay and turns up at Hogwarts.
Relationships: Background Luna Lovegood/Rolf Scamander, Teddy Lupin & Original Female Character(s), background Harry Potter/Ginny Weasley
Series: Daydream Believer [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1853704
Comments: 4
Kudos: 3
Collections: The Founders Three Presents HP Next Gen Takeover 2020





	A Lonely Moon Called Forth

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to the amazing KrysKrossZee for beta reading this. 
> 
> If you want more information on future TheFoundersThree Fests please check out Tumblr

**A Lonely Moon Called Forth**

It was quiet out by the Quidditch Pitch as Dory sat in the frost covered grass whilst looking up at the moon and stars as though they held all the answers to her prayers. And whilst she knew that being outside this late was not a good idea, in fact it was against school rules, so it was definitely a bad idea, but she just had to be out there. Despite the consequences that she would face for her actions, this was exactly what she needed, the quiet where she didn’t need to be brave. 

It had been tough, the previous morning her dad, the Professor of Herbology, had been found in one of the greenhouse covered in blood and bruises. No one really knew more than that, the castle had been locked down and no one was meant to be out of the common areas without a teacher. The only extra information that Dory had was that he had been transferred to St. Mungo’s and that the medical witches and wizards were hopeful that he would awaken within the next day or so. 

Nothing that she knew reassured her. All she could think about was how much she wanted someone to pull her into a hug and promise that it would all be okay. All she wanted if she couldn’t have her dad there was to have her dad there was to have her best friend, Teddy Lupin, who had graduated just at the summer, to be there, telling her that it was all going to be okay. He had always been her rock but it felt difficult to rely on him now that he was out in the adult world. She loved that his life was going in the direction that he wanted it to, but her fifteenth birthday had been only a week earlier, and she wasn’t ready to be an adult. 

It took awhile but eventually, despite the tears running unnoticed down her face, Dory’s eyes drifted close. It was cold given that it was the end of February but it was honestly exhaustion from having not slept since the night before her dad was found. She wanted nothing more than to wait impatiently for her dad to wake up and come home. However, the exhaustion was too much and despite the bitter cold she fell asleep where she sat. 

It was a mere hour later that Dory woke up with a startle, but she was instantly confused. As far as she could remember she had not returned to the castle but somehow she was warm and her head was resting against something soft. It wasn’t something that she could explain, mainly because there was no explanation. Part of her was hoping that given the confusion, the warmth, and the comfort that she couldn’t explain everything of the past few days was just a nightmare. But something about it felt too real, and that scared her. 

She loved her mum, and Rolf, and the twins but it was her dad who she was closest to. He was her anchor and she had no idea what she would do if she lost him. It was something she never wanted to consider, but now she had no choice but to. 

She pushed the intrusive worry filled thoughts from her head and turned her focus to the confusing warmth enveloping her. It was a warmth that she recognised but couldn’t place, it was like wearing an old, comfortable jumper that you had forgotten about. 

“It’s going to be okay, Dory, I promise,” she instantly knew who it was. And in the same instant she knew that it would all be okay, it would all return back to normal, back to how it was meant to be. The voice belonged to her best friend, Teddy, and whilst Dory knew she should be questioning why he was there, she was just thankful that he was. 

She never responded, instead she just turned and buried her head in his shoulder. It wasn’t often that she cried, but the circumstances surrounding her being outside were just too overwhelming. She clung to her best friend as she let herself freely cry, to feel the emotions that she had been fighting down since she was told about her dad’s attack. 

Teddy Lupin knew that he was not meant to listen in on the conversations that Harry and Ginny, the people who raised him, were having with their friends but sometimes he just couldn’t help it. And that is exactly what happened when he arrived home to find Luna and Rolf Scamander sat in the living room of the Potter’s house whilst Lily and the twins were playing in the garden. It had taken one look from his godfather for him to quickly make his way through to the stairs at the back of the house which would lead to his room. 

However, he stopped rather than making his way up the stairs when he heard the mention of his best friend, Dory. He was worried instinctively. Dory was at Hogwarts and therefore should be safe, but Luna sounded worried, which in itself was something that raised red flags because it was something that just didn't happen. 

“Thankfully it wasn’t Dory who found him, but she’s terrified and McGonagall has locked down the castle like they did in our first year, Gin,” Luna’s comment did little to settle Teddy’s worry. He had heard the story of the castle being locked down when Ginny and Luna were in their first year at Hogwarts due to the Chamber of Secrets being opened. Following the attacks on students inside the castle, it had been locked down and the students had been escorted everywhere by a member of staff. 

“Neville will be fine, and Dory will be home to see him soon, you don’t need to worry so much,” Rolf’s voice flowed through from the living room. And it was then that Teddy made one of his more reckless decisions. However if any of the adults in his life were asked they would all say that making reckless decisions was something that he did a lot. 

Teddy knew how his best friend would be reacting. He knew that she would be pretending to be strong, but underneath it all, she would be drowning in worry. Past experience had proven that there were very few people who would ever witness Dory expressing how she was really feeling. He also knew that because of that, Dory would end up getting herself in trouble. She hated being in the castle when something was playing on her mind, and despite the fact that the castle had been locked down, she would have snuck out and she would be somewhere within the grounds. And that was something that he couldn’t leave her to deal with on her own. 

Teddy had never been as thankful for the Marauder's Map that his own father and best friends had made during their time at Hogwarts as he was in that exact moment. He had floo’d into the Headmistress’ office, somehow without her magically throwing him into a wall, to be met with her most disapproving look. 

“Miss Longbottom is not within the Hufflepuff common room or dorms. Please ensure that she returns there, Mr Lupin,” Professor McGonagall ordered him in her most strict and no nonsense tone. He knew that there was no room for arguments however he didn’t plan on leaving Dory outside the castle any longer than necessary. “I suggest you use that map that those nightmares known as your father and his friends created in order to find Miss Longbottom.” And with that comment Teddy knew that he was dismissed, and as such he turned and made his way out of the office in search of his best friend. 

He knew Professor McGonagall well enough to know that she was not thrilled with the fact that he had just arrived at the school, especially when he had graduated not even a year earlier, but he also knew that there was a time limit before he would face her wrath. He had a job to do before he went home, and that job was to make sure that his best friend wasn’t going to crumble under the stress that was no doubt weighing on her whilst she waited for news on her dad. 

He slowly walked down the corridor away from McGonagall’s office, but as soon as he went to break into a run, he pulled the Marauder’s map out and checked where she was, and honestly when he saw that she was in the grounds next to the Quidditch pitch he couldn’t help but smile. He wanted to laugh because he should have known that it was where Dory would be, she couldn’t go to the greenhouses so of course she went to the Quidditch pitch where she had spent a lot of time supporting him. She had always gone somewhere that was familiar and had a sense of safety to it, and the greenhouses wouldn’t feel safe until she knew that her dad was going to be okay. 

Once he had found Dory he knew that he couldn't move her straight away, but he could bring her some comfort until he was sure that he would not wake her up, and then he would take her back into the castle, and make sure that she ended up back at the Hufflepuff Common Room. She looked scared, like her dreams were haunting her, but she also looked as though she hadn’t slept since the night before they had found her father following his attack. He didn’t blame her for that though, especially since he knew that he would be the same way if the roles were reversed. 

He moved himself so that she was leaning against him, letting her nightmares be chased away, before he conjured a blanket and lit a small fire, allowing his body heat, the blanket and small fire to warm Dory up. This was why he wanted to come here, to come to her. She had helped him through the toughest of times that he had ever been through, the least that he could do was return the favour. So he would sit guard for as long as it took for her dreams to turn to calm ones, and then he would take her back into the castle. But for now, he had the stars to watch whilst Dory curled herself in tighter to the warmth. 

It didn’t take long for Dory to start to stir, he figured that it would happen, although he had hoped that she wouldn’t wake. He started to rub soothing circles on her back just as he would with Lily or Al or Jamie. It was his role as the eldest, he protected and he comforted. It was how he was raised, affection was given willingly to anyone who needed it. 

“It’s going to be okay, Dory, I promise,” he whispered, he never got a response as she turned and buried her head in his shoulder. He kept repeating the sentence over and over again as her tears started to soak into his jumper. He knew that this was what she needed, she needed to let it all out. She needed to let the emotions she had been shoving down as deep inside of her as she could finally boil out, and if that meant that he had to sit there for however long it took, then he would. 

He hated it though, he hated that his best friend felt so upset and terrified about what was going on that she was emotionally breaking. He hated when people that he cared about were in pain of any kind, but this was the worst for him, because this time he knew that he couldn’t fix the situation. When Jamie had broken down on him because of the end of his relationship, he could fix that, a trip to see Quidditch and some fun, that was the solution, but there was no solution to what Dory was going through. 

He just kept holding her, telling her that it would be okay, and he wouldn’t stop until she was able to look at him. She had returned the favour when he had struggled with the idea of potentially losing his family because of who he is, she had sat with him, telling him that it would be okay, and that she would be just over the hill from his Grandma Molly’s if he needed her. “No matter what, Dory, you will make it through this. I’ve got you.” 

Dory honestly could not tell you how long she had cried into Teddy’s shoulder, but she had never been so relieved to have her best friend. It was difficult, she was glad that he was there but the circumstances were horrendous and went against the happiness that she felt due to him being there. She finally ran out of tears to cry, which she hadn't actually thought possible given how terrified she was feeling and all the negative thoughts that were running through her head. 

“Thank you,” her voice was barely above a whisper, but she knew that Teddy had heard her as she finally pulled back and looked at him. “Thank you for coming.” And she meant it, she appreciated the fact that he had dropped everything for her. She knew that she would do the same, but sometimes she worried that her friends wouldn’t return the favour. 

“Don’t mention it.” 


End file.
